The Fiio E5 is a good amp for anyone looking for a small and portable solution. The only problem I have with is when you are moving the divice there is a lot a distortion and do not use in with a smart phone when you receive calls this amp go crazy start beeping, and this is really painful to your ears. Overall I would recommend this amp to anyone who when small, lightweight, travel friendly and budget friendly amp to anyone who is starting into amp.

For 20 bucks, it isn't a bad piece of kit. Nice little volume boost, added bass kick to my SRH440s. Really can't go wrong if you want something tiny, portable and have a bass light set of cans or IEMs.

The only con I really have with it, is that the volume down button is VERY close to the headphone out jack. If you have a set of phones that have a large plug the minus button can be hard to hit. Other then that it's a nice little starter portable amp. Now it lives in my car, to boost my phone going into my AUX in jack, which is very quiet.

I have had this amp for some time now and it's pretty great for the price I paid for it. Battery is pretty decent. I don't really use the Bass Boost feature much because I feel like it's too much... but it can also be the Bose OE/MIE2i that I have used with it. No real complains other than when the battery dies, it simply dies. No low battery warning, nothing at all. Can be charged using any USB port (wall chargers are faster).

the fiio e5 is excellent value and is my first headphone amplifier. i bought my shure srh840 around early march and wasn't 100% satisfied so i wanted an amplifier. i didn't listen to everyone when they said my headphones wouldn't benefit and i was right to do so. these improve both the treble and bass. also it allows me to play louder without a degradation in sound quality. i also ordered a fiio l3 lod which makes it sound crisper with my ipod classic. i think everyone on head-fi should try this a tleast once.

Cons: minor at this price: low quality cables, not many in this price range and size

Got for using with my I9000GT and ATH-M50. I found that sometimes I wanted more bass and a slightly higher volume with some songs. The Fiio E5 solved this problem, for next to no money, hardly any extra weight or bulkiness either.

Got myself a FiiO E5 portable headphone amplifier for a long bus and ferry trip. It was £14.44 delivered, including a car charger from mp3amplifier on Amazon.. I then went a bit daft (maybe, read on) and also bought a line out dock (LOD) to connect the ipod to the amp from ebay seller saradam62, search iphone line out dock with cable, for £19.99 including delivery.

The E5 is tiny, seriously tiny and very light, see the pictures. It has a solid metal casing and a clip which fits nicely through the belt slits on my soft ipod cover.

The built in lithium battery charges with a supplied USB cable to connect to a PC or via the car charger. A charge should last 20 hours. There is a mini jack in for the two different shaped supplied cables to connect from the headphone out on an ipod into the amp. On the other end of the amp is the mini jack out to connect to the headphones. On the same end is the tiny volume control , bass boost switch and on/off button. The instructions are in English and Chinese and the translation is perfect and very clear.

I tried it with the supplied mini jack cable from the ipod’s headphone out. With Sennheiser PX200s, Grado SR80s and AKG 702s it boosted the volume without distortion, particularly benefiting the larger headphones. In terms of SQ there was not a huge difference for the PX200s, with and without bass boost. The difference was clearer for the SR80s and AKGs. I find that the sound directly out of a ipod for both is a bit insipid, light and neither has any energy or drive. The FiiO made both listenable and provided the power boost both need. Bass boost was noticeable, but not significantly so.

I then tried the very nice LOD with its very tightly fitting connector, flat cable and pailiccs mini jack. It bypasses the ipod’s volume control and is the best way to connect an ipod to anything. The increase in SQ was exceptional and makes this extra expense to get the better connection very worthwhile. The volume goes even louder than before and still with no distortion. The AKGs in particular benefit from the additional power provided, just wish I had remembered to turn the volume back down on switching to the PX200s, ooh me ears!

All three headphone now sing and are shown to their real potential. Again it is the SR80s and AKGs that really benefit. The overall sound of the FiiO is bright and dynamic, particularly with bass boost on. There is not the soundstage, clarity and detail of an X-CAN full sized amp. But considering the price difference the FiiO puts the others to shame.

The Sennheiser PX200s sound full with a good bass and a slight treble. The SR80s added a full treble, depth, detail and more rounded midrange. They sounded a bit light and bright without bass boost and to my ears very much benefited from adding the extra bass. The AKGs added clarity, a crisper smoother treble, more detailed midrange, but less bass depth. So the FiiO is quite a neutral amp as all three headphones retained their ’house’ sounds and individual character.

In conclusion the FiiO E5, with a LOD to connect to an ipod is startlingly good and very good value. How long it lasts with its rechargeable battery and tiny plastic controls, I’m not sure. But at £34.43 for both amp and LOD? I’ll just get another one. There is an E7 coming out which is ipod specific, but no other details at the moment. If you connect any headphones to an ipod the E5 will give benefits, but more so full sized ones. Highly recommended.

FiiO E5 is a Portable Headphone Amplifier designed to improve the sound quality and volume of any portable audio source such as MP3 players, iPods, personal media players, mobile phones, laptops, notebooks/netbooks, or portable CD players. The E5 retains all of the advantages of the popular E3 while adding many new features and a substantial boost in performance, all inside a very small and slim aluminum case. With built-in volume controls, the E5 can be used with the line-level output of audio sources for even better sound quality.
More than just a refresh, the E5 offers higher power output, better signal to noise ratio and lower distortion. Built on an entirely new amplifier platform, the E5 provides superior sound qualilty and works well with high impedance headphones. Two EQ profiles are available for flat or bass-boost response, allowing additional flexibility in obtaining optimal tonal match with different headphones.
Highlight Features
- Robust design handles high impedance and low sensitivity headphones
- Easy to carry and use both indoors and outdoors
- Increases your music player's battery life
- New amplifier design with high S/N and low distortion
- Very high PSRR for superior supply noise rejection
- Metal case reduces interference when used with GSM mobile phones
- Discreet power switch
- Built-in electronic volume control for ultra low noise
- Two EQ profiles: flat response and bass-boost modes
- Built-in rechargeable battery provides up to 20 hours of normal use
- Mini USB charger port can be used with any USB power source
- Built-in metal clip conveniently attaches to clothing, bags, and etc
Specifications
- Output Power: 100mW (32ohms Load) 18mW (300ohms Load)
- Signal to Noise Ratio: >=98dB (A Weight)
- Power Supply: 200mAh rechargerable battery
- Frequency Response: 10Hz - 60kHz
- Distortion: